House Republicans Stay Focused On The Economy While Senate Dems Push Lifetime Liberal Judicial Appointments

by AF "Tony" Branco

  Today in Washington - Dec. 3, 2013The 2013 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree will be lit this evening during a ceremony on the building’s West Front.

The Senate is still adjourned for Thanksgiving recess and will reconvene on Monday, December 9th. That evening, the Senate will vote on confirmation of the nomination of Patricia Millett to be a U.S. Circuit Judge for the DC Circuit. Millett is a nominee whom Republicans initially blocked since Democrats announced they were pushing her as part of a court-packing plan. But majority Democrats then used the nuclear option to break the rules of the Senate to advance her nomination to a "life-time" appointment and supporting the liberal agenda.

The House convened today at 10 AM. Bills under consideration:
H.R. 1095 — "To amend title 49, United States Code, to direct the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security (Transportation Security Administration) to transfer unclaimed money recovered at airport security checkpoints to nonprofit organizations that provide places of rest and recuperation at airports for members of the Armed Forces and their families, and for other purposes."
H.R. 3626 — "To extend the Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988 for 10 years."
H.R. 2388 — "To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to take certain Federal lands located in El Dorado County, California, into trust for the benefit of the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, and for other purposes."
H.R. 1963 — "To amend the Water Conservation and Utilization Act to authorize the development of non-Federal hydropower and issuance of leases of power privileges at projects constructed pursuant to the authority of the Water Conservation and Utilization Act, and for other purposes."
H.R. 1241 — "To facilitate a land exchange involving certain National Forest System lands in the Inyo National Forest, and for other purposes."
H.R. 1846 — "To amend the Act establishing the Lower East Side Tenement National Historic Site, and for other purposes."
H.R. 2650 — "To allow the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in the State of Minnesota to lease or transfer certain land."
H.R. 255— "To amend certain definitions contained in the Provo River Project Transfer Act for purposes of clarifying certain property descriptions, and for other purposes."
H.R. 2719 — "To require the Transportation Security Administration to implement best practices and improve transparency with regard to technology acquisition programs, and for other purposes."
H.R. 1204 — "To amend title 49, United States Code, to direct the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security (Transportation Security Administration) to establish an Aviation Security Advisory Committee, and for other purposes."

Yesterday the House passed the following bills:
H.R. 3547 (376-5) — "To extend the application of certain space launch liability provisions through 2014."
H.R. 3588(384-0) — "To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to exempt fire hydrants from the prohibition on the use of lead pipes, fittings, fixtures, solder, and flux."

UPCOMING OVERSIGHT HEARINGS
Wednesday, 12/4:
Challenges of the Affordable Care Act - Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Health
The Health Care Law: The Effect of the Business Aggregation Rules on Small Employers - Committee on Small Business
Medicare Advantage: What Beneficiaries Should Expect Under the President's Health Care Plan - Committee on Energy & Commerce, Subcommittee on Health
Friday, 12/6: Field Hearing: ObamaCare Implementation, The Broken Promise: If You Like Your Current Plan You Can Keep It (Apache Junction, AZ) - Committee on Oversight & Government Reform

Today, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) highlighted this week’s House action to help strengthen the economy and promote private-sector job growth, and addressed the impact the president’s fundamentally-flawed health care law is having on American families and small businesses across the country.  He said: “Republicans continue to stay focused on the economy, and the fact is the American people want us to do everything we can to strengthen the economy so there’ll be more jobs and higher wages available.  This week we’ll take further steps to strengthen our economy. The president’s health care law continues to wreak havoc on American families, small businesses and our economy.  And it’s not just a broken website. This bill is fundamentally flawed, causing people to lose the doctor of their choice, causing them to lose their health plan.  And if that isn’t enough, they’re having to pay much higher prices at the same time.  So, House Republicans are going to continue to listen to our constituents, listen to the American people, and try to focus on protecting them from a fundamentally-flawed law.”

Today, Rasmussen Reports noted that 81% Favor Repealing or Changing Health Care Law - Voters overwhelmingly want to change or repeal the new national health care law. One-out-of-two want to scrap it completely and start over again.

Politico writes, “President Barack Obama will launch a coordinated campaign Tuesday by the White House, congressional Democrats and their outside allies to return attention to why the Affordable Care Act passed in the first place. After two months of intense coverage of the botched HealthCare.gov rollout, the president will host a White House event kicking off a three-week drive to refocus the public on the law’s benefits, senior administration officials told POLITICO.”

If this sounds familiar, it is! Over three years ago Politico wrote on Sept. 15, 2010: “The White House and its allies are plotting campaigns they hope can bolster public opinion of the health care overhaul and improve the Democrats’ chances at the polls this fall. . . . The Obama administration is planning multiple efforts, involving senior officials, to communicate the insurance reforms both in person and online, a White House aide told POLITICO.”

Like the White House’s endless “pivots” to the economy, the story of the president’s many announced plans to sell Obamacare again is told by headlines. Politico today: “White House returns to Obamacare sales mode.” The Hill, October 23: “White House plans ObamaCare blitz.” McClatchy, October 1: “White House to hold health care blitz.” CNN, July 16: “White House continues education blitz on health insurance.” Politico, September 2010: “Obama, allies ready health care blitz.” The New York Times, June 2010: “White House and Allies Set to Build Up Health Law.” US News, March 2010: “Democrats Prepare for Another Healthcare Blitz.”

According to today’s Politico story, “Obama won’t declare the website fixed during Tuesday’s event. . . . But he will return to a theme he first pursued in October: Obamacare is more than a website.”

Unlike most of the president’s pronouncements about Obamacare, he’s actually right that it is more than a broken, troubled, expensive website. Americans are seeing every day that Obamacare means lost coverage, higher premiums, and higher deductibles. A woman in North Carolina told a reporter for WRAL, “It’s been aggravating to have to see the policy that you were perfectly happy with doesn't exist anymore and you can't keep it.” An Alabama woman worried to WAFF, “[H]ow can my premium more than double per month, how care our deductibles go up on every single family member and yet you're providing me the same plan?” The Bangor Daily News reported on a small business owner in Maine whose premiums would go up by $200 per month. In Michigan, the Kalamazoo Gazette reports, “Kalamazoo residents Mary Swanson and her husband are among the reported 225,000 Michiganders who received cancellation letters from their insurers because their plans did not meet the minimum standards of the Affordable Care Act. The Prudential Preferred Realtor, whose husband owns a construction business, said they currently pay $925 a month… She has been quoted between $1,300 and $1,500 a month for coverage, she said, and the couple's deductible will jump to $6,000 each instead of $4,000 combined.” According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, a man in Minnesota “said his premium will jump 84 percent.” In Utah, KSL interviewed a family whose daughter was diagnosed with cancer and “learned last week their insurance plan was terminated under the Affordable Care Act” and to make matters worse, “The options the family is weighing have premiums that are more than double the premiums under their previous plan . . . .”

As Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell said recently, “The President and his Democrat allies were so determined to force their vision of health care on the public that they assured them up and down that they wouldn’t lose the plans they had, that they’d save money instead of losing it, and that they’d be able to keep using the doctors and hospitals they were already using. But of course now we know that rhetoric just doesn’t match reality.” he had noted earlier that “what we’ve seen are the utterly predictable consequences of Obamacare. . . . a lot of folks warned about these kinds of consequences coming to pass. But the President’s political machine just steamrolled anybody who spoke up. They laughed it all off. Dismissed everyone else as naysayers and cynics. When all the while they basically knew we were right. Countless independent experts, health-care professionals, and insurance authorities across the country all warned about what we’re seeing now. And so did many of us. . . . Republicans repeatedly warned about Americans losing their health plans. ... We repeatedly warned about Americans losing access to their doctors and hospitals. We repeatedly warned about rising costs and skyrocketing premiums. Check the Congressional Record. We warned and we warned and we warned about each of these things. Frankly, we shouldn’t have had to. It doesn’t take an actuary to figure this stuff out. And the things my constituents now have to put up with as a result of this law are simply unacceptable.”

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Tags: House, Republicans, focused on Economy, economy, Senate, Democrats, focused on liberal judges, Obamacare, failures, editorial cartoon, William Warren To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!